Uddhav Resigns After SC Asks Him to Prove Majority; BJP May Form Govt on July 1 | Key Updates

After a days-long political tussle in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday resigned as the Chief Minister of the state and also quit as a member of the Legislative Council. His announcement came minutes after the Supreme Court refused to stay Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s order to the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take a floor test in the assembly on Thursday morning.

“I am also quitting as a member of the Legislative Council. I had come (to power) in an unexpected manner and I am going out in a similar fashion. I am not going away forever, I will be here, and I will once again sit in Shiv Sena Bhawan. I will gather all my people,” Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, said in a webcast after the apex court’s verdict on the plea filed by the party against Koshyari’s decision to conduct the floor test.

For unversed, rebel Shiv Sena MLAs along with some Independent legislators were camping in Assam’s capital city Guwahati since June 22 showing rebellion against the MVA coalition government.

Here are the top updates on the political tussle that gripped Maharashtra over the past few days:

• The Supreme Court this evening refused to stay Governor’s direction to the MVA government to take a floor test in the state assembly on Thursday. A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala said Thursday’s proceeding in the assembly will be subject to the final outcome of Sena’s petition against Governor’s decision.
• The apex court had also issued notice to the Secretary of Legislative Assembly and others on plea against the state Governor’s order for the floor test. “We have drafted this short order. We are not staying the floor test as convened by the Governor. We are issuing notice in the writ petition. You can file a counter in five days. We will hear on merits along with other cases on July 11. Thursday’s proceeding will depend on the final outcome of this petition,” the bench had said.
• However, soon after the SC verdict, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation from the CM post and thanked his cabinet colleagues and alliance leaders for the support. “I want to express my gratitude to the people of NCP and Congress that they supported me. From Shiv Sena, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai, and Aaditya Thackeray, these people were only present when the proposal was passed while NCP and Congress people also supported the proposal,” he said.
• Uddhav Thackeray, who said he has “no regret leaving his post”, was facing a rebellion by the majority of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.
• Uddhav Thackeray has appealed to party workers to allow the rebel MLAs to return to Mumbai and not to protest. “Let the rebels who grew politically because of Shiv Sena and Balasaheb Thackeray get joy and satisfaction of pulling down his son from the post of the chief minister,” he said.
• In a message to rebel MLAs, the Shiv Sena supremo said, “What were your problems? Instead of going to Surat and Guwahati, you could have come to me directly and expressed your views. ” Asserting that he would rebuild the party, he added, “Shiv Sena is a party of the common man and has faced several challenges successfully.”
• The apex court had also allowed jailed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh to participate in the Maharashtra assembly floor test. The bench said that CBI and ED will bring the jailed legislators to the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha’ for the floor test and will take them back into judicial custody after the process is over.
• According to sources, the BJP is expected to form government in Maharashtra on July 1.
• Meanwhile, the rebel MLAs left Guwahati where they were camping for over a week this evening, and landed in Goa. Speaking to reporters at the Guwahati airport, Shinde had said the rebels will work for the development of Maharashtra and the people. “We will do as per the top court order. We will reach Mumbai on Thursday. We will decide our future strategy after that,” he had said when asked if the rebels will support a BJP-led government.

(with inputs from PTI)

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